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Mastering trickery with artificial effects was great fun too. Roger Water's infamous Q-Sound enhanced Amused to Death manages quasi surround sound from two speakers. And indeed the barking dog of "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard" appeared to arise behind me to the right. Other boxes will also manage good spaciousness but rarely with such accuracy.
The Dílis 4405 thus got quite remarkable on classical works. Here I was actually surprised since I believed that for that I'd need recovery of the very smallest performance noises to feed my brain the subliminal cues to fully buy into the concert hall illusion. Since I already knew that such micro detail recovery isn't within this speaker's purview, I wondered how such excellent staging came off.
Shy of a hard explanation—I didn't have one—the raw scale of the recorded venue was surprisingly high and the impression of an actual hall tangible. I felt enabled to distinguish between different halls, their layouts and dimensions. Instrumental groupings were clearly situated to underscore the experience and truth of timbre merely added to it. In short this affordable speaker does the classics well.
My resident Geithain at the far right.
Conclusion. Which genetic traits the Highland Audio Dílis 4405 inherited from France vs Scotland I can't say. But none of it matters relative to performance. If you don't expect extreme resolution to keep it real on price; and don't need PA output levels... then there's a lot on offer.
On frequency response the speaker acts very broadband and in the best sense of the word neutral. Rhythm and dynamics are very much in the pocket. The only proviso is less of it in the deepest register though the 4405 does extend low. That said, my opening question whether a speaker of such mixed origins can sound good can be tersely answered with yes. What's more, the successful voicing conveys plenty of energetic fun and rewards with well above average soundstaging.
Psych profile of Highland Audio's Dílis 4405... • Neutral tonal balance with broad extension. The bass goes low, the treble has brilliance and the mids show no coloration.
• Dynamically animated, the comparatively small mid/woofers have greased reflexes. Only the lowest band gives up some control.
• Max levels are limited to hit their stops above solid room levels. What's achievable is perfectly sufficient for regular use but not necessarily fit for parties.
• Fine nuance and ultimate resolution aren't on the menu but perform on the level given the asking price.
• Soundstaging is well above average on scale, sorting and image focus.
Facts
• Concept: 2-way 3-driver tower
• Sensitivity: 89dB
• Impedance: 8 ohms
• Dimensions and weight: 1045 x 305 x 355mm (HxWxD), 10.6kg/ea.
• Trim: High-gloss black or white
